Money Alert: Retirees misled by government website

The Government has been accused of letting down people in Northern Ireland by giving misleading information about their pension rights.

The official NI Direct website states that pensioners retiring to Canada and New Zealand will receive an annually uprated pension. But anyone retiring to either of the locations will have their pension frozen at the rate they left the UK.

That's because of international pension agreements that have left more than half a million British expatriate pensioners with no annual state pension increase. And any Northern Irish retirees believing the government information could join the unfortunates with smaller pension payouts than retired neighbours in the likes of the US.

Sheila Telford, chairman of the International Consortium of British Pensioners, said: "We are shocked that the Government is still unable to provide accurate information on where British state pensions are frozen. Our campaign will continue until all frozen pensioners receive the fully indexed pension they have paid for and deserve."